Can You Afford to Flip a House? Now Is the Time
By one measure, the housing market is finally back to normal. The practice of flipping—whenever a buyer purchases a house and resells it within one year—is down to 4.0 percent of all home sales in the U.S. for the third quarter of 2014. That's the lowest level since 2009, suggesting a return to equilibrium for cities that have experienced a lot of market volatility since the financial crisis (which is most cities).
According to a new report from RealtyTrac, the dust is settling in places like Seattle and Denver, cities where inventory is dwindling and rehab costs are rising. That's not every city: Flipping is up in a few, including Kansas City (up 66 percent from one year ago), Boston (40 percent), New Orleans (38 percent), Indianapolis (35 percent), and Louisville (a whopping 117 percent). But flipping is down in enough cities that the national picture looks clear: A lot of the housing inventory produced by foreclosures is now gone.